The saga of the Alta library is long, and I have written about it before. Suffice it to say that the library needs a new home. It deserves a new home. The library board has looked at retrofitting …

There’s a reason the phrase listing the Three R’s puts Readin’ first and Ritin’ second. To write competently, you first need to see how to do it. What you’re reading …

We often think we know our neighbors. But how well do we really understand the journeys that brought them here? Some stories are full of joy. Others are marked by loss and challenge. All of them can …

Politicians in Washington, D.C., are getting ready to shut down the federal government once again, despite single-party Republican control of the House, Senate and the Presidency.  This …

While my father and mother were far from apolitical, neither allowed any political signs or flags in the yard or on any barns on our southern Illinois dairy farm. The reason, my father once …

A cardinal rule as elected officials is not to break things — as in, if it isn’t broken, don’t “fix” it — not unlike the medical profession’s Hippocratic …

I have spent decades in healthcare, both in clinical settings and in policymaking, and one thing has become crystal clear to me: the best solutions for rural Iowa’s healthcare challenges come …

When they soak you for the fare, the airline tells you that one bag is allowed on board. False. “We’re checking that bag. The flight is too crowded. You can collect it at …

The City of Storm Lake has formed a water study committee to help determine how to manage increasing water demand with a faltering treatment system. Its most useful work should be to sort out what is …

If you dear readers wondered why this column did not appear in last week’s Times Pilot, Mary and I were in Northern California for the marriage of our son Justin to a wonderful woman, Piper …

Dear readers, Grab your guitars and join in the sing-along to the tune of Carly Simon's "Anticipation"   We can never know about the storm to come But we know it will come …

Last March, six months ago, Congress averted an impending federal government shutdown by reaching a bipartisan compromise, which extended the government funding deadline by six months, to the end of …

Maybe the reason you see black when people see white or you say “down” when they say “up” is because — in these troubling times — black is white and up is …

In my Senior year while Sr. Dominica was the music director, Ed Bodaken, a previous graduate from St. Mary’s and a college graduate, returned as an assistant to Sr. Dominica. That year he was put in charge of …

Even though the Terrace Hill crowd will burst an aneurysm over the idea, it’s officially time Iowa has one of those warnings like on cigarette packages:  “Caution: Living …

In my last op-ed (Best and worst U.S. presidential cabinets), 15 different research-based sources revealed that Donald Trump’s 2017-2021 and current cabinets are among the worst in U.S. …

Recently, Physician Side Gigs released its average physician salaries by state, with comparisons to cost of living. In this report, Iowa ranks first in the nation with an average salary of $464,000 a …

From the western banks of the Missouri River to the Mississippi River in the east, our beautiful state is dotted with family farms, manufacturing plants, and strong communities of all sizes. The main …

Bruce Rastetter’s Summit Carbon Solutions is at it again. Their CO2 pipeline scheme — siphoning emissions from Corn Belt ethanol plants, compressing them to a supercritical 2,200 psi, and …

My head is filled with dread consulting the calendar and the news. Give me liberty or give me death, the sort of talk that could get you locked up for hate speech. It would be funny if it were a …